Anitta

Larissa de Macedo Machado, known as Anitta, is a Brazilian singer, songwriter, dancer, actor, and television host. Often called “The Queen of Brazilian Pop”, Anitta is one of the most versatile and prominent Brazilian artists of our time.

Anitta’s career started from humble beginnings: In 2010, she uploaded videos of herself singing to YouTube. She gained a large following, eventually signing with the record label Warner Music Brazil in 2013. Her 2013 debut single, “Show das Poderosas”, and her debut studio album of the same name became hits in Brazil.

Since then, Anitta has released seven studio albums, eight extended plays, three soundtrack albums, and 140 singles in Portuguese and Spanish. Her music is known for blending various genres, including funk, pop, reggaeton, and hip-hop. She has collaborated with numerous internationally renown artists including Cardi B, J Balvin, Iggy Azalea, the Black Eyed Peas, and Madonna.

Throughout her career, Anitta has been recognized with numerous awards, including six MTV awards (and four additional nominations), two Grammy nominations, and four Latin Grammy nominations. She is considered one of the most successful and influential artists,  credited with bringing Brazilian music to a global audience. Her number-one hit single, “Envolver”, became a worldwide sensation. As of March 2022, the song had racked up 1.2 billion views on TikTok, 75 million views on YouTube, and was streamed 3.6 million times on Spotify.

 In October 2022, She joined the ranks of Lil Nas X, BTS, and Tyler, the Creator being honored as a visionary artist for “Envolver” and the staggering success of her trilingual album, Versions of Me (2022) at the WSJ Magazine Innovator Awards. Even more recently, Anitta set a record in March 2025, achieving 324 million streams on Spotify Brazil, the highest number of streams in a single month for a Brazilian pop artist. Also making history, her sixth studio album, Funk Generation (2024), was nominated at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards for Best Latin Pop Album, becoming the first Brazilian funk album in history to be nominated.

In addition to her music career, Anitta has built an impressive résumé as an actor and television personality. She has appeared in seven television shows (including the Spanish Netflix series Élite (2023)) and six movies. She has hosted, participated in, or appeared as herself in dozens of broadcasts and televised programs.

Anitta has been open about her sexuality as an openly bisexual woman. In a 2021 interview with the Gay Times, she shared her experiences with women and with bi erasure, saying:

When it comes to bisexuality, it’s kind of tricky because first of all, I’ve never dated a woman, […] I’ve had relationships with girls, but it was very casual. We never dated and it wasn’t a long-term situation.

So people will sometimes say, ‘Oh so you’re not really bisexual — you only date guys.’ I don’t think that it means that I’m not. Imagine if I said I’m heterosexual and then someone catches me kissing a girl or hooking up with a girl, they’d go ‘Oh my god, you’re such a liar!’

So I just think we should be honest and people — even from within the community — should not judge or expect each person to act the way they want them to. It’s a very delicate subject and we should just respect each other’s way of finding themselves. We should be free to do whatever we want to do.

Anitta has been involved in several philanthropic causes, including helping impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil, preserving the Amazon rainforests, defending the human rights of the indigenous population of the rainforest, and providing medical care to children in Africa. She’s also an outspoken defender of LGBT rights and women’s rights taking a stand on several occasions by participating in public demonstrations and donating to NGOs and charities.

From her humble beginnings to becoming an absolute icon, Anitta’s star has captivated people everywhere. With her fearless creativity, relentless activism, and unwavering authenticity, she’s a bright inspiration to all. She is a remarkable, proud bi woman who is changing the world with her contagious rhythm and melodic voice, and we can’t have enough of her.